What did people do before electricity was invented?

Electricity wasn't invented; it is a natural phenomenon seen in lightning, the nervous system of every living animal, and so on. Things to make, transmit, store and use electricity were invented. Before those things were invented, people made things that allowed them to live without electricity, such as candles and oil lamps for light, waterwheels and ox drive for powering equipment, fuel-burning stoves for heat, written letters and visits for communications, and so on.